The Edo State Task Force on Recovery of Government Property has arrested six suspects for allegedly stealing a 30-kilometre stretch of pipeline on the Warri–Kaduna crude oil route.
The chairman of the task force, Eugene Okolosie, disclosed this during a media briefing in Benin City on Wednesday, where he outlined recent successes recorded by the team.
According to Okolosie, the theft occurred in Ekperi, Etsako Central Local Government Area, and involved the use of heavy-duty excavators to unearth and cart away the pipeline, which is designed to convey crude oil from Warri to the Kaduna refinery.
He noted that the operation may have been carried out with the collaboration of some local community members and revealed that a portion of the stolen pipes has been recovered.
“This is a serious economic sabotage,” Okolosie stated. “The scale of the vandalism has caused significant damage to critical national infrastructure.”
In a related development, five other suspects were arrested in Uhuoghun, Orhionmwon Local Government Area, for allegedly vandalizing government-owned agricultural tractors and other heavy machinery for illegal sale.
Another five individuals were also apprehended in Okpella for the theft of high-tension electricity equipment, Okolosie added.
The task force chairman expressed deep concern over the rising incidence of land encroachment and illegal sales of government land across the state.
He revealed that over 480 hectares of illegally sold government land have been recovered, many of which had been sold by youth leaders and community figures.
“In Sobe, trees planted by the government in a reserved forest area were felled and sold, and the land converted for plantain cultivation,” he said, describing the activity as an eight-year-long encroachment.
He also cited the Ewomama Community, where civic infrastructure—including a market, civic centre, school land, and a generator site—was sold off. The government has since reclaimed those properties.
Okolosie raised alarm over widespread encroachment on school lands, stating that almost every public school in Edo has been affected.
He pointed to a case in Uromi, where a private school was built within the premises of a public institution.
“Anyone who attacks education is attacking the future of their community,” he said, vowing that the task force would continue to reclaim government property across the state.
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He warned the public against dealing with impostors who pose as task force members to extort money from unsuspecting citizens and thanked the state government for its support in enabling the task force to achieve its mandate.
